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A young blonde woman slouches against a garden retaining wall and eyes the entrance of San Diego's Hillcrest Youth Center (HYC), a tax-funded drop-in program for homeless and disaffected kids who are "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning"-LGBTQ in the parlance of politically active homosexuals. Wearing a baggy gray sweatshirt, Army-green pants, tousled hair, and no makeup, she looks like a kid from the streets. At 21, she is the right age: The youth center, a beige house with fairy-tale blue eaves situated on a palm-lined avenue, is open to "youth" ages 14 to 24. But the woman is not LGBTQ-she's a WORLD reporter, sent undercover after HYC staff denied the magazine an arranged tour to see how taxpayer funds are spent.
HYC is a project of the Lesbian and Gay Men's Community Center of San Diego that received nearly $2 million from federal and local governmental agencies, according to its most recent public filings. In an age when the "morally straight" Boy Scouts face ejection from taxpayer-funded facilities, an increasing number of "anything but straight" youth facilities are applying for and winning taxpayers' funds. The New York State legislature, for example, doubled its funding of homosexual organizations in 2000, doling out at least $500,000 to gay youth centers and advocacy groups. In Minnesota, the gay youth center "District 202" last year paid with government funds for more than a fourth of its operations-which include weekly "drag" shows and a Sunday evening gay-themed reading group called "Bedtime Stories with Darren."
Over the past decade, the number of centers that cater to youth who are practicing or considering homosexual behavior has increased tenfold. About 20 centers dotted the United States in the early 1990s, mostly in larger urban areas. Today, there are about 200, according to the National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC), a Washington, D.C.-based group that seeks to establish a "national infrastructure" of gay youth organizations. About a third of gay youth centers receive public funds, NYAC estimates.
How is the money spent? WORLD's reporter hoisted her backpack and headed into the Hillcrest Youth Center to find out. Profanity-laced rap music thumped through the entryway, where she confronted the first thing kids see when they walk in the door: an enormous black-and-white wall display holding 16 transparent bowls, each containing a red plastic scoop. The bowls contained condoms and other items, some marked for boy/boy sex and others for girl/girl sex. Nearby, blue shelves housed "gay" newsletters, brochures on HIV prevention, and guides to "coming out."
The center's interior was filled with colorful paper lanterns, bright rugs, bean-bag chairs, and mod furniture. About 30 young people, friendly and upbeat, filled the house. In one room, two boys, 16, lay entwined in a bean-bag chair, while other boys camped in front of a television, expertly thumbing video-game controls. A girl, about 17, smacked home a foosball goal, then bent over to give her plastic men a celebratory kiss. "Eeew!" groaned another girl: "She's kissing guys!" Although Heather Berberet, a lesbian psychologist and a director at the adult gay community center that sponsors HYC, told WORLD in a telephone interview that the center doesn't emphasize homosexual sex, per se, a dozen or so photos in the computer lab depicted lesbians, some engaged in sexual acts. Other gay-themed art and literature was prominent.
Spirited and well-spoken, Ms. Berberet had denied WORLD's tour request, but on the phone she said HYC has a "two-pronged goal-to provide a cool, interactive, safe environment for every youth that visits ... and to provide a very tight net of interlocking social services for the youth that need them." She pointed out the high suicide rate among teens who "self-identify" as gay or lesbian, and the increased risk for substance abuse and contraction of sexually transmitted disease, including HIV. Such problems, she claimed, stem mainly from discrimination and rejection teens face from parents, peers, and society at large. She said HYC addresses those issues with "case management" services, housing placement, mental-health counseling, and HIV-prevention education.
But more than 80 years of clinical research and observation calls into question the notion that the troubles of gay youth are based in discrimination, says Yale psychiatrist Jeffrey Satinover, author of Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth. The American Psychiatric Association, under political pressure from a vitriolic internal gay caucus, ignored that science and removed homosexuality from its list of disorders in 1973. But science just wouldn't go away: Researchers have since found causal links between homosexuality and a lack of male role models (Journal of Genetics and Psychology, 1983); parental emotional abandonment (Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1989); and child sexual abuse (Child Abuse and Neglect, 1992).
A 2001 study in the Archives of Sexual Behavior compared childhood molestation between heterosexuals and nonheterosexuals. The authors found that almost half of gay men and about one in five lesbians reported homosexual molestation in childhood. This compared to childhood homosexual molestation rates of only 7 percent of heterosexual men and 1 percent of heterosexual women.
Critics say that gay-youth advocates and centers such as HYC downplay such triggers in an attempt to make homosexuality seem a "culture" rather than an abnormal expression of sexuality. In addition, advocates edit out unflattering facts about homosexuality, such as the low incidence of long-term relationships and high rate among gay males of sexually transmitted disease such as AIDS.
AIDS/HIV is a primary public-funding fountain for gay youth centers. In tax documents filed by the Lesbian and Gay Men's Community Center of San Diego for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, the 501(c)3 nonprofit reported $2.8 million in revenue-at least 70 percent from government sources. According to Ms. Berberet, that money came primarily from tax-funded HIV-prevention grants at the state, federal, and county levels. But an analysis of HYC and Community Center literature suggests that HIV-prevention activities account for far less than three-quarters of each center's activities.
When WORLD's incognito reporter tried to get information about HIV prevention from HYC staff members, she found slim pickings. One staffer told her about "Wrappers," a group she could join if she wanted to: "Wrappers is a peers-educating-peers group where youth can be trained to talk to other teens about HIV and other gay issues," the staffer said. "But that's really all we have."
While advocates claim that youth centers like HYC provide social services to at-risk kids who are rejected by peers and counselors at non-gay facilities, critics say such services actually are limited. WORLD's reporter didn't have much success getting information about some "social services" HYC's literature claimed the center offered. She edged up to a table where four center staffers perused their cards in a game of Spades. When the reporter asked one of them-a thin, dark, 40ish man-about home placement services, he told her, "Why don't you come back tomorrow when it's not so hectic?" and returned to his cards.
Other factors render gay youth center operations suspect. For example, some centers allow adults to socialize with young teenagers. HYC is open to 14- to 24-year-olds. Ms. Berberet acknowledged that age groups are not separated during social activities and no parental permission is required for on-site events. That means adults are mixing socially with kids just graduated from the eighth grade. While the center does not allow on-site coupling, activity originating at HYC and occurring off-site could be classified as a tax-funded introduction to statutory rape.
Other youth centers, such as the tax-funded District 202 in Minneapolis, pair adult homosexuals with children in "mentoring" relationships. Advocacy-oriented adult "help," as well as shifting cultural attitudes toward same-sex relationships, may leave kids who are questioning their sexuality with no place to go but gay. Which raises the question: Are havens that promote high-risk sexual acting out leading troubled kids with homosexual tendencies away from real healing of underlying dysfunctions?
The problem with gay youth advocacy, said Dr. Satinover, is "the monolithic, uniform resistance to the idea that there are some youngsters who want to leave the gay life." He told WORLD, "There are hurting children who are struggling sexually but want desperately not to be in the gay life. The kind of support they as free citizens should have available to them is to seek the ability to change. Those children are not being supported."


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| 9.8°C Belfast
Tom Hardy has been greeting fans on the red carpet as his new thriller Locke enjoyed its premiere.
The actor, who plays troubled construction site foreman Ivan Locke in the 90-minute feature, said the film was about an ordinary man whose life is steadily torn apart over the course of a motorway car journey, as the repercussions of one night in his past come back to haunt him.
Shot in just two weeks, Hardy said it was the pacing of the movie - by the creator of the Peaky Blinders hit television show Steve Knight - which was the key to its success.
"It was a bit of an experiment really - and it's paid off, because it works," he said.
Hardy, who signed dozens of autographs and posed for selfies for fans at the premiere in Knight's home town of Birmingham, said he had been blessed with "a great script" from which to work from.
"It's almost like a radio-play on one hand, and then just running the camera as life goes by. It's in real time," he said.
"We shot the whole film in one. We did the play twice a night for five nights, and it took 10 days to do the bits and bobs and cut it all together - it was quite an experimental piece."
Also starring the voice talents of Ruth Wilson, Andrew Coleman and Olivia Scott, Hardy said the camaraderie on set had helped to deliver the film's edge.
He added: "There's always camaraderie when you've got a good team but it was a very bizarre set-up which is what was good fun about it.
"We'd got a script, we only had a couple of weeks to shoot it in and swam through fences to do it.
"It's such a great script, such a great idea and it seems to have worked."
Hardy was originally offered the part by Knight in what was originally a short film "about a bloke travelling to see his son being born".
However, in the event the movie ended up as a full-length feature film. "It was a short film that turned into a feature film, I loved it," he said.
Knight, joining his principal star on the red carpet said that having made conventional films "I just wondered if there wasn't another way".
He said: "The basic process is get people into a room, turn the lights off and have them engage with the screen for 90 minutes, and I wanted to know if there was another way to do that.
"What I wanted to do was really simplify the whole process and capture the whole performance and point the camera at an ordinary man, not a Jason Bourne, not an action hero, but an ordinary human being who has made a mistake and is trying his hardest to make amends for what he has done.
"I think people will identify with his dilemma because it is so ordinary."
He said Hardy - who is the only actor who appears on screen throughout - made "compulsive viewing".
"In all the countries we've shown the film, all over Europe and America always afterwards people come up to me and say 'that's the journey my dad never made', 'that's the journey I never made', 'that's the journey I did make'.
"People relate it to their own world because it is very recognisable to them and it's the emotional impact that I am really pleased with."
Knight said he had decided to have the premiere in Birmingham, where his hit show Peaky Blinders is set, in a bid to turn the spotlight back on what he called "the great city", claiming it had become ever more "invisible" since its creative and manufacturing heyday as the workshop of the world and the birthplace of the Arts and Crafts movement.
He added: "I am passionate about trying to do stuff in Birmingham, and for people in Birmingham to have the confidence and belief to shoot things here.
"In the 19th century we manufactured for the world and it annoys me that we're so invisible in the media. I t is up to us to do something about it."
Locke is released in cinemas nationwide this week.


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I always want to publish articles that are relevant to the readers of this newsletter. Many of my articles describe genealogy software or related software and services. Of course, that soon begs the question: "Which computers and operating systems are the readers using?"
I have some guesses but am not certain those estimates are accurate. Therefore, I am asking you to take a minute or two and let me know what YOU are using. The questions are in the form of a poll that is listed below. The poll will be open for one week.
The poll contains only two questions: what is your PRIMARY computer and what other computers do you use occasionally? For instance, you might use a Windows system most of the time but also have an iPad for taking your data with you when traveling. You can also see the results (so far) of the poll questions.
Please note that the poll does not ask for your name, email address, telephone number, or any other identifying information. If you answer the poll questions, I will not flood your in-box with spam or call you on the phone just as you and your family are sitting down for dinner. I don't do things like that. The poll is fully anonymous.
Won't you take a minute and fill out the poll below? Please note there are two VOTE icons, one after each question. Please click on each one separately after you have answered the question. You also can click on "View results" at any time to see the answers entered so far.
Please click on VOTE above and then answer the next question:
Please click on VOTE above.
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"It's failure to prepare mentally and failure to take practicing penalties really seriously." This is Ken Bray's explanation for England's dismal performance in penalty shootouts. England are successful in only 17% of their encounters, compared to Germany's impressive 80%. Bray is an expert in the science of football, and he has studied the physics as well as the psychology of penalties and analysed the statistics. The result are three steps to ensure a perfect penalty, which he explains in this video. You can find out more about the science and maths of football in Bray's Plus articles on football.
Plus Blog
I was lucky enough to see the beautiful Matisse exhibition at the Tate Modern in London last week. A few days later I was asked, by a TV researcher, how do you make maths interesting and understandable to people when so many people, in her experience, had hated and avoided it at school? In response I found myself telling her about the Matisse exhibiton. Not to change the subject or avoid discussing the bad reputation maths has in many people's minds, but to explain what we at Plus, along with many other maths communicators, try to do.
Now I loved maths at school. It made sense, I could express what was in my brain and how I saw the world through maths, and I found it fun. What I found a challenge was art class, I didn't feel I had any artistic ability at all. People who could accurately draw or realistically paint people (or bowls of fruit or jugs of water...) amazed me - it was like they had a magic power. And for a long time I didn't think much of modern art. For example Picasso's pictures seemed ugly and didn't look like the things they apparently depicted, and Matisse's bright art seemed simplistic.
My opinion on art, particularly modern art, has changed, thanks particularly to two fantastic exhibitions. The first was over a decade ago at a light-filled gallery in Spain that showed many of Picasso's preliminary sketches and studies leading up to the Guernica, the full work of which filled the final room of the gallery. Following the journey that Picasso took as he built towards this huge masterpiece, along with the commentary of the social and artistic context of the piece, gave me a new appreciation of the skill, effort and genius of this work. It was awesome. I began to see all his work differently.
The Matisse show at the Tate contains many of what are called the Cut-Outs. Very late in his life, after a serious illness, he initially wasn't able to paint the huge canvases he previously produced. Instead, sitting in a chair or up in bed, he began to cut out coloured paper which he would instruct assistants to pin to the walls of his room and studio, moving it a little to the left or right, a little up or down, experimenting with these coloured shapes to build collages that had enormous power. He was so taken by this new genre he had invented that even when he recovered enough to paint he preferred this new approach.
The exhibition contains video of Matisse at work, photographs of his studio and commentary that explain the personal, artistic and social context for his work. Walking through the chronologically arranged rooms it gave me a sense of his motivation for working this way, and how it changed his perspective, and the significance of this work both artistically but also its wider cultural context. The exhibition included different types of content: recordings of the artist himself (or someone speaking his words) about his motivation, clear descriptions of the works and how they were made, explanations of the significance of this work in art, and how they interpreted Matisse's world. And most importantly, of course, was seeing the works themselves, up close, smooth curves, jagged edges, bright colours, pinned together.
It was the brilliant curation of this exhibition that reminded me and inspired me about the work we do here at Plus. We want to allow anyone a chance to see some of the wonders of mathematics up close. We hope that hearing the words of researchers will give a sense of their motivations in doing their mathematics, and we aim to show the significance of this work both in mathematics, and in a wider, cultural setting. We hope to give people a glimpse into how mathematicians perceive the world and how they use mathematics to express their perception of the world. And we hope this gives our readers a new appreciation of maths, of its power and beauty, that they might not have noticed or enjoyed before.
Now I'll never be an artist. But thanks to clever and passionate curation I have over time developed an appreciation of many different types of art, that makes seeing new art less confronting and more exciting. And sometimes, when the urge arises, I might have a go at capturing something on pencil and paper or in cut-outs of coloured paper, just for my own pleasure. I hope that Plus plays a small part in helping everyone have a similar appreciation of mathematics. We might not all be mathematicians, but I hope we can all enjoy and engage with mathematical ideas, appreciate their beauty and power. And that the next time maths pops up in our lives, it's something to be excited about, rather than avoided.
We're very excited! Over the last year or so we helped edit a book called 50: visions of mathematics and this Wednesday it will be officially launched — in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal!
The book celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) and it's the IMA's anniversary party the book will be launched at. It contains articles from our favourite popular maths authors, including Ian Stewart, Marcus du Sautoy, Simon Singh, Chris Budd and John D. Barrow. There will be a foreword by Dara Ó Briain and also fifty images showcasing the beauty and diversity of maths.
The main editor of the book is Sam Parc (follow her on Twitter) and we were part of a devoted editorial team that assisted her. If you like to read about maths with all its beauty and many applications, then why not have a look at the book? We're off to practice our curtsies...
Where were your most creative experiences at school? In art class? In music? English? In your maths lesson? That last one might not be the obvious choice for many of us, unless you were lucky enough to have a really inspiring maths teacher. But that is exactly the type of opportunity we are hoping to create for maths students aged 7-16 as part of the project, Developing Mathematical Creativity, with our sister site, NRICH.
One aspect of the project that we are particularly excited about is highlighting the role of creativity in mathematics research. All mathematicians tell us that doing original mathematics is highly creative – but what exactly do they mean by that? We asked some researchers from a range of subjects about the role of creativity in their work.
Working within constraints
We started with David Berman who has a very interesting perspective on creativity. As well as being a theoretical physicist at Queen Mary, University of London, he also has a long standing collaboration with the Turner prize winning artist, Grenville Davey. Deconstructing the artistic idea of creativity, Berman told us that rather than an unbridled release of ideas where anything is possible, beauty comes from creating work withing very tight syntactic constraints. "Think of music: the tight system of key and chord makes music very constrained and yet capable of amazing emotional power," he said. For example Schoenberg's experiments with atonal music, though completely new and boundary breaking, were far from unconstrained. "Maths is like this. There are enormous syntactic constrains but still enough freedom to say something new. The beauty lies in between the constraints of syntax and the freedom of meaning."
Taking risks
David Spiegelhalter, the Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge, said he recognised creativity in research when someone makes a leap between two different areas, making new connections between them, perhaps using a tool from one area in another. And, as is fitting for someone with his expertise, Spiegelhalter highlighted that creativity is about stepping into the unknown and taking risks, something that can be different to our experience of mathematics in school. "Research is different to maths at school because you don't know where it will end, nobody has gone there before to tell you the answer but you have a feeling that something will come out."
Asking good questions
Ben Allanach, a professor of theoretical physics from the University of Cambridge, also mentioned this exploratory nature of creativity and research: "You don't know the answer [to the questions you're asking] before you start… You don't even know if there is an answer." He gave some examples such as inventing new models of particle physics, or new algorithms for analysing data. In this sense, a key aspect of creativity is the ability to ask good questions. "Creativity has a role in research in deciding which projects to work on," said Allanach. And as well as creating or choosing good questions that, as Spiegelhalter said, you have a feeling that something will come out, it's also important to be able to spot when your questions turn out to not be such good choices after all. "Personality and judgement play a large role," said Allanch. "When do you persist? When do you struggle on and when is the time to give up on a line of enquiry?"
Interestingly, our discussions with researchers from chemistry, although quite a different field from mathematics, produced some very similar ideas. Charlotte Williams, Senior Research Scientist at CSIRO in Australia, also emphasised the importance of asking good questions, persevering with them, and constantly reviewing if you were still going in the right direction. "Most research projects come from a position of fundamental direction: you need your research grounded in reason, precedent and understanding of the subject, but then you need to innovate and that is where the creativity comes in," said Williams. But, as well as being able to ask good questions, Williams also emphasised that persistence was an important attribute to research success.
Animation of the small subunit of the Thermus thermopiles ribosome. RNA shown in orange, protein in blue. (Image in public domain)
Although the emphasis is often on the new, Williams made the point that great research also comes from thorough investigation and understanding of current work. "Nobel prize winner Ada Yonath (in Chemistry, 2009), said just this when I heard her speak. She would never have solved the structure of ribosome or got the Nobel prize if she hadn't continued to do the same work for her whole career. And importantly have the funding bodies and universities support that (and not say, 'you've been trying to do this for too long, do something new'...). She said she thought that tenacity and follow through in research was vastly under-rated." Perhaps this persistence with an idea, following it through, testing it out and really gaining an understanding of what is going on, is also a valuable element of creativity.
Williams felt that it is only once you have learnt the fundamentals of chemistry at school and in undergraduate degrees, that real creativity is possible. This could be seen as in contrast to our aim to encourage creative thinking in maths from the very earliest ages. Perhaps this is core difference between the subjects of maths and chemistry - there are a lot more costs and dangers associated with doing chemistry than playing with maths. "Too much creativity [in reasearch] and you could waste a lot of time and effort," says Williams. "So it's the combination that is key: thinking of a new direction or interesting area to explore that has a reasonable likelihood of being successful." Also, due to the real physical dangers of some chemical reactions, it's not appropriate to just let students follow their own ideas without proper supervision. "I respect and appreciate a student's thoughtfulness and creativity but given that they are students, they still need guidance. In particular in chemistry, going off being creative without having the appropriate experience or without having consulted one's supervisor, can be really dangerous to be honest."
Collaboration and interaction
The final theme that really emerged from these researchers was the importance of interaction and collaboration in allowing for creativity in research. Williams said the process of attending conferences, listening to seminars and staying in touch with new research stimulates collaboration with people that might lead off into unexpected directions. Allanach too said that creativity often comes from interacting with others.
So what role do you think creativity has in learning and researching maths, both as an academic but also as a student? What have been your favourite experiences of mathematical creativity?
About this article
This article was inspired by content on our sister site Wild Maths, which encourages students to explore maths beyond the classroom and designed to nurture mathematical creativity. The site is aimed at 7 to 16 year-olds, but open to all. It provides games, investigations, stories and spaces to explore, where discoveries are to be made. Some have starting points, some a big question and others offer you a free space to investigate.
Check out this great new video abstract for a paper from the the wild bunch at the Centre for quantum technologies in Singapore.
We vote all academic papers have to have such tempting video trailers! While you're making your way through their paper, why not also read more about compression and quantum mechanics on Plus.
If you're not sure how maths is relevant to real life, then go to see this year's popular lectures put on by the London Mathematical Society. Kevin Buzzard of Imperial College will explore the digitisation of our lives — the fact that many of the things we enjoy and work with are now stored on computers which reduce them to numbers. This has weird consequences. For example, some numbers are copyrighted, and there are even some illegal prime numbers. But way before this digital revolution, mathematicians realised that numbers could encode all of mathematics (even the parts of it that aren't about numbers), and this has some even stranger consequences.
How do diseases spread?
Julia Gog, of the University of Cambridge, will look at how mathematics has been applied to help understand and control infectious diseases, from the scale of a single virus particle through to a global influenza pandemic, and some mathematical challenges for the future.
The lectures will take place on Wednesday 9th July at the Institute of Education in London (7:00pm) and again on Wednesday 24th September at the Haworth Lecture Theatre, University of Birmingham (6:30pm). They are free, but if you wish to attend, please write to firstname.lastname@example.com. A form for registration is available on the LMS website.
And if you would like to go prepared, why not read Julia Gog's Plus article as well as our other articles on the maths of diseases, and find out why encoding maths in numbers leads to surprises.


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EC Communication on Commodity Markets and Raw Materials - guide02 February 2011
by eub2 -- last modified 02 February 2011
Excessive volatility of prices on all major commodity markets occurs at a time when the competitiveness of European industry crucially depends on efficient and secure access to raw materials. Raw materials are vital for the EU's economy and particularly crucial for the development of modern environmentally friendly technologies such as electric cars and photovoltaics. The recent volatility in commodity prices threatens to increase inflation and global raw material markets are becoming increasingly distorted due to protectionist measures. The price fluctuation on the agricultural commodity markets has an impact on farmers, food-makers and consumers, including in the poorest countries. In response to these challenges, the European Commission has presented an integrated strategic vision to tackle challenges in Commodity markets and on Raw materials. The Commission proposes actions to improve the regulation, functioning and transparency of financial and commodity markets. The European Commission also calls for the swift implementation of the Raw Materials Initiative adopted in 2008. The Communication on commodities and raw materials contributes to the Europe 2020 flagship initiative 'A resource-efficient Europe' that was adopted last month.
Commodities & Raw Materials: what is at stake?
A raw material is an unprocessed natural substance or mineral used in a manufacturing process for providing finished goods. Raw materials are often natural resources such as gas, bauxite or wood.
A commodity is any product which a low value added and thus very sensitive to price competition. Raw materials, agricultural products and basic goods are commodities.
Commodity markets – both the physical markets where these materials are traded as well as the financial markets derived from them - have seen increased volatility and unprecedented movements in prices in recent years. While the precise causes of these price swings are often difficult to pin-point, concern over the possible effects which financial market players have on basic prices, as well as concern about the level of transparency existing in these markets, have given rise to calls for policymakers to take action.
Beyond commodity price volatility, in recent years, some countries have introduced restrictions on the export of certain vital raw materials - such as rare earths for instance gallium, lithium and indium and some other minerals important because of their increased use in new technologies). These restrictions, as well as other bottlenecks in the sustainable supply of raw materials, pose a real challenge for European industry and consumers and need to be tackled.
What is the European Commission doing to tackle these issues?
The purpose of the Communication is to propose a way forward for how these challenges can be addressed in a coherent and comprehensive manner.
On commodity markets, while the Commission is already acting to improve the transparency and integrity of commodity markets, further work needs to be done to fully appreciate the interaction which exists between financial markets, increased global demand and physical commodity prices.
In 2008, the Commission adopted an initiative on Raw Materials. It outlined a strategy based around three pillars:
* Fair and sustainable supply of raw materials from global markets
* Fostering sustainable supply within the EU
* Boosting resource efficiency and promoting recycling
Since then, the Commission has:
* identified for the first time a list of critical raw materials
* has identified good practices in order to promote mining in Europe
* has tackled unjustified trade restrictions abroad
* has fostered greater recycling and more efficient use of materials.
In today's Communication, the Commission reinforces the above strategy presenting a series of targeted actions aimed at meeting our future raw material supply needs.
Why is secure access to raw materials so important for Europe?
Raw materials - such as metals and minerals - are the basic building blocks for the products we use on a daily basis. Hence, the continued, fair, sustainable and affordable supply of these materials is essential for the EU economy and our way of life. Moreover, given their importance for future technologies, they are also an important part of our future, both economically and to meet environmental goals. The table below gives an example of a number of raw materials and what the final product they are used in are:
Raw Material
Sample Use
Electric and electronic goods
Lighting (LEDs)
Flat display panels
Batteries in electric cars/ICT devices
Stainless steel
Platinum Group Metals
Catalysts & mobile phones
Rare earths
Permanent magnets for windmill and hybrid cars lasers, LCDs
Mobile phones
Photovoltaic cells
What do we mean by the interface between physical and financial markets?
Financial and physical commodity markets are linked in multiple ways. Participants can be active on both and react to price developments in one market by taking a position in the other. With increased interdependence between markets, developments in financial markets unrelated to underlying commodities can also trigger investment or hedging decisions in relation to commodities. Further, prices in derivative markets can be directly transmitted for example by indexation to wholesale and retail spot prices. Identifying which way causation flows in the interaction between financial and physical markets is a complex issue, complicated by differences across commodity markets and a lack of transparency on both physical and financial markets.
What is the evidence of speculation on these markets and what impacts do they have?
Recent years have seen large-scale new investment flows into various commodity derivative markets with varying effects on prices. Some of these speculative flows are based on an assessment of market fundamentals such as the outlook for supply and demand in a given commodity. In other cases, they may be entirely disconnected from the fundamentals of the commodity sectors in question and instead seek to profit from market movements. The effects of both types of investment flows on prices have been already been studied but conclusions vary and further analysis is necessary in order to better understand these developments. Speculation, investing, and hedging are complementary market activities which are not always distinct or mutually exclusive. Neither should speculation be confused with market manipulation. Nonetheless, recent developments have made understanding commodity prices more difficult. Additional transparency and oversight of commodity derivative markets is therefore necessary.
What is the Commission doing to improve the integrity and transparency of commodity derivative markets?
In light of recent developments and concerns expressed over the functioning of commodity derivatives markets, the Commission is taking a series of measures to improve how financial and commodity markets function and to reinforce regulation in line with G20 commitments.
* The Commission adopted in September 2010 a proposal for a regulation on Over The Counter derivatives, which aims to reduce systemic risk and improve transparency for regulators in all derivatives, including commodity derivatives. We hope to see an agreement before the end of the year on this proposal.
* The review of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive due before the summer 2011 and on which the Commission is currently consulting will aim to improve further the transparency of trades and prices in commodity derivatives, including by setting conditions for when commodity derivative products should trade exclusively on organised trading venues. It will also explore the need for more systematic and detailed information on the trading activities of different types of market participants in commodity derivatives, and more comprehensive oversight by regulators of commodity derivative positions, including the need for imposing position limits when deemed necessary. The consultation also asks whether position limits should be introduced in certain cases.
* The review of the Market Abuse Directive – due before the summer - will aim to clarify what trading in commodity markets constitutes abuse, and to ensure that all venues and transactions where abusive practices can occur are properly covered under pan-EU rules.
* The work on Packaged Retail Investment Products (PRIPS) will examine the need for additional rigour and enhanced quality of information when retail investors are offered products such as some structured commodity investment products.
* The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, which was agreed in November 2010, will increase transparency of these funds for investors and national supervisors, and give a better insight of the impact of these funds on the markets for commodity derivatives.
* Finally the creation of the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) started its work in January 2011 will ensure consistency of technical rules applicable to these markets and be instrumental in strengthening collaboration with regulators of the underlying physical markets.
What are position limits, and how could they be useful?
A position is the relative share of the market occupied by one given investor. They currently do not exist in the EU.
Position limits can be set in two forms. First, competent authorities can be given the power to direct any individual person to reduce the size of their position in the interests of the orderly functioning of markets, investor protection, or market integrity.
Second, ex-ante position limits can be set for a particular market (for example you could say no investor can control more than x % of the market of copper). Such limits can apply to both derivative contracts traded on exchange and over-the-counter.
Position limits can help to ensure orderly functioning of the market, for instance by preventing settlement squeezes (i.e. when all contracts have to be executed on a specific date) and other forms of market abuse, as well as help to control excessive speculation.
In order to be able to set position limits, as well as in order to monitor market developments, competent authorities should be able to request anyone entering into a derivative transaction to provide a full explanation for their position. Position limits should take account market developments, the specificities of the different types of derivative products and, in the case of commodity derivatives, the evolution of the physical market of the relevant commodity.
In the MIFID consultation, the Commission has asked stakeholders for their views as to the possible introduction of position limits in the EU. If these were introduced in the EU, they could allow competent authorities to examine the positions taken by traders, and to require them to decrease the size of their positions if needed.
Why are some materials considered to be critical to the EU?
The Commission has identified in this Communication a list of 14 raw materials which are subject to a higher risk of supply interruption and are highly important to the economy;
There are a number of reasons for a heightened supply risk, one of which is high concentration of the production of a raw material in a given country. The graphic below presents the 'critical' materials by source country.
Supply risk may also be accentuated by the low political-economic stability of the main supplier(s), as well as by low substitutability and low recycling rates of the raw material itself.
The Commission will monitor the issue of critical raw materials to identify priority actions, and will examine this with Member States and stakeholders. The Commission will update the list regularly.
Does this mean that other metals and minerals are not seen as important?
No, on the contrary. Minerals, such as lithium and iron ore, and metals, such as nickel and copper nickel, have been and will continue to be key or essential for the EU's economy. This goes without saying. Nonetheless, as these materials are not subject to a risk of short term supply disruption, they are not categorised as being 'critical'. That said, maintaining undistorted fair and affordable access to these raw materials will remain a priority.
How is coherence between raw materials and development policies ensured?
Tackling excessive price volatility will also benefit developing countries, whether they are importers or exporters of raw materials. Furthermore, the Communication addresses the relationship between financial transparency, tax and mining, an issue which is of fundamental importance to resource-rich countries. Finally, the Commission will look closely at controls on minerals originating in conflict areas.
As an example of the EU's commitment to help developing countries to use mining as an instrument for development and poverty reduction, as part of the EU-Africa Joint Strategy for 2011-13, agreement was reached to co-operate in three main areas: governance, investment/infrastructure and geological knowledge/skills. This co-operation will also explore how resource rich countries can better link the extractive industry to local industry and communities.
What specific measures are proposed on raw materials & trade?
As the EU is highly dependent on imports of a number of metals, the fair application of trade rules on raw materials will continue to be a priority for the Commission. As such, the Commission will continue to integrate raw materials provisions in ongoing trade negotiations, where appropriate. It will also step-up enforcement of existing rules by tackling illegal trade barriers.
In light of the EU's external dependence on certain metals, is there a potential for mining in the EU?
Yes. Although the EU is very import-dependent on metals, Europe is endowed with strong industrial minerals and building materials industries. Moreover, despite dependence on metals imports, there are important deposits of many metals in many regions of the EU. Therefore the potential for mining in Europe is strong and many Member States are making use of their deposits. However, in spite of this, many barriers to mining exists, some of which are administrative and some which are often due to the sector being subject to various overlapping and conflicting policies.
What are the main proposals put forward for fostering mining in Europe?
The Commission considers that the following practices are particularly important in promoting investment in extractive industries in Europe:
* definition of a national minerals policy;
* setting up a land use planning policy; and
* putting in place a clear authorisation process for exploration and extraction.
To progress this, the Commission proposes to assess with the Member States, in full respect of subsidiarity, the feasibility of establishing a mechanism to monitor actions by Member States in the above area, including the development of indicators.
Another requirement for a strong European mining industry is the improvement of the EU minerals knowledge base. As this takes time to create, in the short term, the Commission proposes to work with Member States, where possible, to increase synergies between national geological surveys.
What are Europe's 'Urban Mines' and why are they an important source of raw materials?
Much of the steel, aluminium and other metal inputs used by European industry comes from secondary, or recycled, sources. Indeed, given Europe's long industrial history and high standard of living, its 'urban mines' stocks are a considerable source of raw material. As the reprocessing of recycled material requires less energy than processing of metal ore, recycling also saves on carbon emissions. Overall, while recycling cannot meet all of our needs, there is still much potential for greater recycling.
What does the Commission propose to do on recycling & resource efficiency?
Significant progress has been made in improving recycling rates in Europe over the last 20 years. In spite of the many successes, there is still scope for improvement.
Within the EU, there are still wide differences in recycling rates achieved by Member States, as well as between waste streams. The reasons for these differences need to be further examined. The Communication proposes to develop best practices in collection and treatment in waste, to improve, where necessary, statistics on waste and materials flows, and to support research on economic incentives for recycling.
Although a variety of rules are in place to control waste shipment, a large proportion of our waste is illegally exported to non-OECD countries where treatment often results in damage to the environmental and a permanent loss of material. To tackle this, the Commission has proposed amendments to the WEEE Directive (waste from electrical and electronic equipment) setting tough criteria for export of old electronics goods. However, further action is required to enforce existing rules. The Communication outlines a number of proposals targeted at preventing illegal exports and at ensuring that treatment facilities dealing with EU waste meet acceptable standards.
What role should EU innovation policy play in meeting our raw material needs?
Innovation can help increase the supply of raw materials in a number of ways – from new mining methods to ways in which products can be better designed for recycling to ways in which rare metals can be retrieved from waste for example. Substitution of materials, as well as finding new ways to make better use of what we already have, also plays an important role here. In order to improve innovation across the entire value chain, the Commission will in 2011 assess the feasibility of launching, under the EU2020 strategy, an 'innovation partnership' dedicated to raw materials.
Why is there a problem for agricultural raw materials?
Market prices for agricultural raw materials have become more and more volatile in recent years, with the spikes seen in food prices in 2007/2008 causing food shortages in many regions and leading to political unrest in a number of countries worldwide. In Europe, the impact of food inflation further exacerbated the economic problems. In recent months, there have been a number of new price surges – with the ensuing problems in some cases similar to those seen 3 years ago. The causes for these price fluctuations are complex and are frequently led by climate-driven problems of production, but it seems clear that the large volume of financial market activity is a further factor. The surge in cereals prices seen last August, for example, was much more dramatic than warranted on the basis of an objective analysis of supply and demand. One of the aims of this Communication is to better understand the role that the financial markets have on these price fluctuations.
What is the link to global food security?
This increased volatility also comes at a time when global food security is facing a number of particularly important challenges. The combination of demographic growth (FAO estimates a 2 billion increase in world population by 2050), changing dietary patterns, and the pressures of climate change on our capacity to produce mean that world food supply is facing a huge struggle to keep up with demand. Latest DG AGRI market forecasts highlight that EU agricultural commodity prices are expected to stay higher than their historical averages, reversing their long-term downward trend. At the same stage the costs of agricultural production (fertiliser, treatments, petrol) are also likely to remain well above what we have seen in the past. Greater fluctuation in market prices will only further exacerbate the problems, for example in improving agricultural investment. In order to address this global problem, the Communication supports a global approach with specific reference to the G20 activities foreseen this year, where the French presidency has put priority on addressing commodity prices and food security.
Source: European Commission


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December 30, 2012
Book Review - Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth
This book intertwines the fairy story of Rapunzel with that of a witch in Renaissance Italy, and that of an actual historical figure, Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de la Force, a French writer who is said to have been a great influence on Sir Walter Scott, the father of modern fiction. Charlotte collected words:
"I liked to roll words over my tongue like a lump of molten honeycomb, savouring the sweetness, the crackle, the crunch. Cerulean, azure, blue. Shadowy, somber, secret. Voluptous, sensuous, amorous. Kiss, hiss, abyss.
Some words sounded dangerous. Pagan. Tiger.
Some words seemed to shine. Crystal. Glissade.
Some words changed their meaning as I grew older. Ravishing."
Charlotte's story covers her Huguenot family's fall in fortunes and her time at the sensual and extravagant French court of the Sun-King, Louis IV. Rapunzel's story is told by a nun in a strict convent and also in the first person by the witch's victim. And the witch's story becomes rather more complex than first thought. The author incorporates a great deal of historical detail seamlessly into the story, for example, you learn about Charlotte's clothing as she plays a game of strip poker with her lover; and about the food of the day as her childhood household prepares a great banquet for the visiting King. The chapters are headed by excerpts from different poets exploring the Rapunzel story, which adds to the deliciousness of the experience. This is a great read by an accomplished Australian wordsmith and highly recommended.
Labels: Fairy Tales, Fiction, France, Italy, Kate Forsyth, Rapunzel, Witch
December 28, 2012
Recommended Reads
Don't fall into the new year unprepared! Start off fresh and strong with a good read recommended by someone in your local area- why not try...
Labels: booklist
December 27, 2012
Book Review - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Harold Fry has been retired for some months when he gets a letter from a woman he had worked with many years before. As a result, he sets off, unexpectedly, on a walking pilgrimage to the nursing home where she is dying of cancer. Harold is an unassuming quiet man who has had an unexciting life but as he walks, he gains a broader perspective:
"He had learned that it was the smallness of people that filled him with wonder and tenderness, and the loneliness of that too. The world was made up of people putting one foot in front of the other; and a life may appear ordinary simply because the person living it had done so for a long time. Harold could no longer pass a stranger without acknowledging the truth that everyone was the same, and also unique; and that this was the dilemma of being human."
This a beautiful novel, full of immersive descriptions of the countryside and gentle observations of people. How Harold and his wife deal with the emerging issues from their lives is an addictive read, and a redemptive one.
Labels: Fiction, Rachel Joyce, U.K.
December 23, 2012
Book Review - The Love Letter by Fiona Walker
Fiona Walker is firmly in Bridget Jones territory as her characters inhabit both the world of business and that of English country homes where complicated family trees and fortunes wreak havoc with continuity of the local hunt and arts festivals. Allegra (Legs) North ran out on her fiancée, Francis, to have an affair with her married boss, Conrad. She has to return to the family home to set up a deal for her publishing company's best author, Gordon Lapsis, who she only knows via email. Along the way, she meets Byrne, a long lost Irish family connection as she tries to sort out her parents' marriage breakdown and resolve her own feelings for all the difficult and demanding men in her life. As Sir Walter Scott said in the Lay of the Last Minstrel , "What shall be the maiden's fate? Who shall be the maiden's mate?" This is a funny contemporary romance with a large & attractive cast and lovely English coastal setting. Suspend disbelief and enjoy!
Labels: chicklit, Fiction, Fiona Walker, U.K.
December 22, 2012
Book Review - Return to Grace by Karen Harper
This is a mystery romance and includes a clash of cultures as Grace, a lapsed Amish woman returns to her community after an act of violence against her worldly friends. Who has attacked her group? What is the secret of the Amish graveyard and will the FBI agent and the Amish barn builder be able to work together to solve the mystery while they compete for Grace's love. As the mystery unfolds and more people are victims of whoever is spreading violence in their erstwhile peaceful valley, Grace has to decide whether her future lies in the valley or the outside world. Karen Harper has set several novels in this fictional Amish community and although not Amish, she has made several research trips to Amish areas. Her portrayal of their culture feels authentic (although less immersive then Jodi Picoult's Plain Fact) and her characters are believable, apart from the fact that whilst still recovering from a wrist injury, Grace takes on a job as a cleaner. This is an enjoyable escapist read.
December 20, 2012
Kerstin Ekman provides Swedish literary nourishment
I read Ekman's Blackwater after reading The Dog - a beautifully written story of a puppy lost in the woods and struggling to survive. The seemingly simple tale offers a more complex exploration of trust and friendship and the relationship between man and dog. I enjoyed her writing style so much that I looked for more of her books and ordered Blackwater via inter-library-loan through Camden library - and I was glad I did. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long time.
Blackwater is a literary thriller set in the far northern forests of Sweden. The story spans 20 years and centres around Annie Raft and her involvment in an unsolved double murder of two tourists on midsummer's eve in 1974. The description of the long-lit midsummer nights create an eerie atmosphere and the complex, intricately woven plot and realistic and interesting characters drew me right in and I couldn't put it down and didn't want it to end. It was, for me, one of those books that reminds us why we love reading.
I found this review in an unpublished archive and thought it was worth sharing. We still have The Dog and it sounds very enjoyable - Wendy
I found this review in an unpublished archive and thought it was worth sharing. We still have The Dog and it sounds very enjoyable - Wendy
Labels: Dogs, Kerstin Ekman, Mystery, Sweden
December 18, 2012
Chick-Lit Christmas? Yes Please
This time of year is a great time to get into Chic-Lit. Relax, take a load off and immerse yourself in a world of girly problems and triumphs. You're bound to love one of these fab reads (I like the look of the Hindi Bindi Club myself, there in the centre). Click the title to view more details, or pop into Camden and Narellan branches. And good luck with your Christmas shopping!
Labels: chicklit, digital shelves
December 16, 2012
Better together by Sheila O'Flanagan
Shelia O'Flanagan is one of the reliable group of Irish writers bringing you stories of people and relationships with a serious undertone but a light touch. Settle down for some pleasant entertainment as journalist Sheridan Gray takes a job on a small regional newspaper after being made redundant by a big city sports desk. Sheridan's landlady, Nina, has a TV soap actor husband who is having a fling with his attractive young co-star. And what a pity that the devastatingly handsome man at the junior soccer match is married…. or is he?
Labels: chicklit, Fiction, Ireland, relationships, Romance, Sheila O'Flanagan
December 15, 2012
National Year or Reading: Love2Read
How can it be? The National Year of Reading is coming to a close. We hope you've enjoyed our monthly booklists, our book reviews, our thematic spotlights and reading goodies. Thankyou for sharing your favourite reads with us- we've enjoyed every single one of them. To finish off our NYOR booklists, we've decided to pull together your top authors- authors that made you laugh, cry, smile, frown, giggle and everything in between.
But that's only the beginning? Won't you share your favourite author with us? Comment in the box below.
Labels: booklist, library lovers, NYOR2012
December 12, 2012
Book Review - The Secret Life of Poems: a poetry primer by Tom Paulin
If you love words and how writers use them, try dipping into this little book with an entertaining review of 42 poems by well-known English poets including Coleridge, Tennyson, Byron, Hughes, Larkin and Wordsworth. Starting with a short and fairly painless explanation of technical terms for rhythm, rhyme and metre, each short chapter focuses on one short poem or excerpt, analyzing it for poetical devices to understand how the poet gets his or her effect. A discussion of the historical context and influences adds layers of meaning to each one. For example, did you know that Keats and Wordsworth were dangerously radical and political? Or that many of the allusions in their poems would have been understood by their contemporaries to have political connotations? You can also just read the poems and enjoy them – revisting old friends like Coleridge's :
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
Incidentally, this last word, greenery, was invented by Coleridge in this poem! And yes, I think you should read them to the cat or any other family member willing to listen or just say them out loud to yourself!
Sci-Fi Awesomess: Digital Shelves
Oh la la! Science Fiction reads are all ready to go. Grab one in your Christmas travels and travel to new worlds at the same time. You know you want to. Pick from these classics and new titles or pop in to your local branch.
Labels: digital shelves
Christmas Fiction: Great Novels about this lovely time of year
December is here!!! With all the mayhem of Christmas preparation, you'll need a good detox when you get a spare moment. Why not relax with a Christmas read? Fuzzy endings, fun plots and cheeky twists, Christmas fiction is a once-in-a year treat! Try these on for size!
What about you? Do you have a good Christmas Read to recommend? Or your favourite Christmas movie?
December 11, 2012
The Art of Annemieke Mein : wildlife artist in textiles
Labels: Annemieke Mein, art, wildlife
December 10, 2012
Book Review - The Wife who Ran Away by Tess Stimson
Kate is nearly 40 and has taken on all the responsibility in her family, using her demanding but highly paid job to support her husband and children, her mother and help her sister's family. One day, following a series of disappointments and stresses, she leaves the family home in a bit of a fugue state and finds herself seeking refuge with an old friend in Rome, rediscovering her love of art history and trying to find out where she lost her own self along the way. Her husband and children deal with the shock of her absence, once they notice it, in their own ways. An entertaining story of how relationships get mired in roles that grow to overshadow the inner needs and desires of the people who start out whole but end up transformed into shadow people they don't want to be. How will Tess find out who and where she wants to be?
Book review: A fortunate life by A.B. Facey
This autobiography is not a new book but I have only just recently read it. Albert, or Bert as he is called throughout the book, was born in 1894 and truly had a remarkable life. Bert had to start working at the age of eight and from then on worked extremely hard for the rest of his life which, even with all he endured, he still considered to be fortunate. He loved the Western Australian outback and found solace in sitting and watching and listening to the wildlife. Bert's descriptions of the land bring it to life and his writing style is simple, everyday language.
Bert worked on the land in many varied jobs, learning a range of skills that he put to use all through his life. His account of his experience at Gallipoli is moving and educational and really gives the reader an honest picture of what it was like. The second half of the book has a very different feel to the first half, which is probably because of the romantic way we all feel about our childhood and his recount of his adult years is more "matter of fact".
I'm glad I finally read this book because it is an Australian classic with insight into Australia's history.
Bert worked on the land in many varied jobs, learning a range of skills that he put to use all through his life. His account of his experience at Gallipoli is moving and educational and really gives the reader an honest picture of what it was like. The second half of the book has a very different feel to the first half, which is probably because of the romantic way we all feel about our childhood and his recount of his adult years is more "matter of fact".
I'm glad I finally read this book because it is an Australian classic with insight into Australia's history.
December 08, 2012
Book Review - The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
We begin with Grace, meeting with her solicitors..
"We'd better present her as sane….They laughed and poked their cigarettes in the air and talked about me as if I wasn't there as we walked back to the courthouse where, along with two other women… I was to stand trial for my life."
Part story of the trial and part flashback to the events that take place as passengers and crew from a sunken ship try to stay alive in a lifeboat adrift for many days, The Lifeboat brings us into the mind of Grace. We learn her back-story, just married to wealthy Henry who has surely not survived the sinking. Grace is a survivor but will this current trial be too much for her to overcome? Beautifully evocative writing details the lifeboat's occupants grappling with religion, morality and ethics as life and death choices need to be made on the open ocean. I didn't expect to be as gripped by the story as I was, nor as fascinated by the inevitable 'What would I do?' speculations the book engenders.
Coming Home: A Booklist
This is the time of year that families and homes are important. For this reason (seeing as you might be in the mood for something a little softer), here are some reads that focus on the theme of coming home and returning to the family.
Do you have your suggestions? Why not leave them in the comment box below?
Labels: booklist
December 06, 2012
Book Review The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones
A rich family in a large English country house prepare for a birthday celebration for the daughter of the house, Emerald. Sadie Jones gradually reveals the family's uncertainties and passions. They are not Old County but newly arrived and their grip on the house, which they all love in varying ways, is under threat. A slightly otherworldly collection of visitors arrives, including a gaggle of third class passengers from a local train wreck, like a Greek chorus, and a strange and mesmerizing figure in Charlie Traversham-Beechers. Emerald goes to greet them…
"And as she stopped, there came, of a sudden, a hard gust of wind behind her, striking her through her dress, forcefully blowing all thoughts of convention from her mind. The heavy front door was closed, but the chill struck Emerald's back, finding its way through the jamb and hinges – through the solid wood itself, it seemed, as a cold wave will sometime catch one as one leaves the sea and knock the breath from one's body."
These uninvited guests completely transform the expected weekend and provide a cathartic turning point for future family relations. I particularly liked Imogen, known as Smudge, the youngest daughter, much younger than her brother and sister, and her solution to getting realism into her animal portraits on the wall of her upstairs bedroom. The older children undergo several shocks as they grow to understand some of the adult figures around them and take some tentative steps towards their own futures. They learn that it takes a crisis to understand how strong family bonds can be.
Labels: Fiction, Sadie Jones, U.K.
December 04, 2012
Book Review: Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Green
This novel starts out small and builds layers of complexity. We meet Max's imaginary friend Budo and learn about Max's life. Going to school, dealing with parents, teachers and other children and growing-up . One of my favourite parts of the book is the characterization of several teachers - the good and the ordinary. I love Mrs Gosk, who is a teacher who really teaches….
"They talk to kids in their regular voices and say things they would say in their own living rooms. Their bulletin boards are always a little raggedy and their desks are always a little messy and their libraries are always a little out of order, but kids love them because they talk about real things in real voices and they always tell the truth".
Another gem is the interaction between a varied bunch of other imaginary friends. Each is imagined with characteristics specifically created to help their human friend so communication, brains and movement are all up for grabs in their creation. So, some can speak and go through walls and some can't move at all. Budo is unique in being very nearly fully formed in a human image. This is a story of love, loss and bravery as an extraordinary thing happens to Max and Budo tries to save him. I was swept away by this author's ability to create a whole reality of the imaginary friend and his masterful ability to evoke emotion.
Book Review - A Roomful of Bones by Elly Griffiths
This is not your straight forward story complicated as it is by indigenous Australian repatriation requests for ancient bones, druid dreaming, a trans gender bishop and a murder mystery centred on a race horse training stable. That all sounds complicated but we are in the hands of a very good story teller, so relax and enjoy the ride! The book characterized by wry humour . Dr Ruth Galloway, forensic archaeologist, has a daughter, the result we learn of a brief affair with a policeman.
"You're very brave,' someone said to her recently, 'to bring her up on your own." What choice did I have? Ruth wanted to say. Expose her on a hillside? Leave her to be adopted by a friendly wolf pack? But she did have a choice, she recognises, right at the beginning. A choice she supports. It was just that when it came to it she realised she wanted a baby very badly indeed. And, if she never sees him again, she will always be grateful to Nelson for this.
She does indeed see Nelson as they try to solve two mysterious deaths and a parallel investigation into a drug smuggling ring. This is the fourth in a series based on Ruth Galloway but I hadn't read the earlier ones and the story stands up as a read alone. It contains many twists and turns, lots of highly idiosyncratic individuals and some evocative scene setting. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Labels: Elly Griffiths, Fiction, Forensic Archaeology, Mystery, U.K.
We were passing the cooking shelves at the library today and had to snap this one! What an unusual mix of books on display- it really demonstrates the vast range of food and cooking books available for loan at your library. Click one to view more details, and as always, we'd love to see you in person at our Camden and Narellan branches.
Labels: Cooking, digital shelves
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Activities/Application for Assistance
The Bishop Cummins Institute strives to be the nexus for the integration of Catholic thought in curricular and co-curricular life on campus and to foster a heightened culture of the Catholic intellectual life. The Institute encourages the campus community to integrate their scholarly pursuits with action in order to promote our rich Catholic heritage.
Meeting Dates 2020-2021
Tuesday, 15 September
Tuesday, 13 October
Tuesday, 10 November
Tuesday, 8 December
Tuesday, 12 January
Tuesday, 16 February
Tuesday, 9 March
Tuesday, 13 April
Tuesday, 11 May
Application for Assistance from the Institute
Download the application to the Bishop John S. Cummins Institute for Catholic Thought, Culture, and Action. (bottom of this page)
News and Events
Montini Lecture by Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, September 2021
Activities sponsored by the Institute include the following:
Catholic Intellectual Tradition Workshops
- Directed by Monika Hellwig in June 2005;
- Directed by Michael Himes in June 2006;
- Directed by Rosemary Haughton in June 2007
- The Most Reverend Allen Vigernon, Bishop of Oakland in 2003.
- Richard McBrien in September 2004.
- Social Justice Lecture Series organized by CILSA in 2004-05.
Speakers included Greg Boyle, SJ and Kevin Willmott.
- Catholic Classics Series: In tandem with a Religious Studies department quarter-credit class for students, a series of conversations were scheduled by the department with prominent theologians (including Brian Patrick McGuire, professor of medieval history at Roskilde University, Denmark) on classic Catholic texts.
- Rigoberta Menchu, Nobel peace prize recipient, in November 2005.
- A Sacramental Community: Women, Spirituality and the Arts: a symposium co-sponsored with the Art and Art History Department. The Symposium was a celebrationof Mary in the Catholic imagination, architectural spaces that mediate the presence of God and contemporary sacred expressions in word and form. There were 20 different presentations, two art exhibits, an organ and choral recital, a dance performance, and a closing Mass. The primary goal of the Symposium was to provide an opportunity for the College to join as a sacred community and acknowledge scholarship, explore contemporary perspectives and honor creative achievement. Nine staff and faculty jointed ten additional presenters and offered scholarly papers and art performances, with over 100 students attending. Ten different departments participated. Sister Mary Rose Bumpus, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Spirituality at the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University gave the keynoteaddress.
- The Most Reverend Allen Vigneron, Bishop of Oakland in 2006 on Deus Caritas Est
- Katie Springer Panel Discussions on God and Science in 2005 & 2006
The topic in 2006 was abortion. The Catholic perspective, a perspective from biology, a perspective from psychology, and one from philosophy were made, followed by a general discussion.
- Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, in January 2006
- Rosemary Haughton, an autobiographical sketch on what it means of be a Catholic, in June 2007
- Father Bryan Massingale, Racial Justice and the Catholic Lasallian Traditions, November 2018
- Austin Hartke, The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians, October, 2019
Cultural Events
- Dinner for Muslim students and their families, January 2017.
Catholic Social Teaching Activities
- Co-sponsored conferences with The Henning Institute 2004-2007.
- Co-sponsored Summer for the Common Good with CILSA, a residential program for students working on various community service projects in the Bay Area in 2005. This program allowed 13 students to engage faith and social action through the lens of the concept of the "Common Good." Participants worked at a variety of non-profit agencies and schools for 8 weeks tutoring children, translating for refugees, and fixing broken bicycles, among many other things. This students lived together in an intentional community on campus where they met weekly to pray, talk about issues at their agencies, and to reflect on the concept of the "Common Good."
- Supported students working in New Orleans, Katrina Relief, during January Terms and Easter Vacation in 2005 - 2007. al Development Activities
- Annual sponsorship of faculty at Collegium Workshops.
- Sponsorship of faculty at Vatican conference, "Catholicism and Science Education."
- Sponsorship of Board Members at the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Rome Seminars on Catholic Higher Education.
- Sponsorship of students at Huether Conference in 2006.
- Sponsorship of students at Immersion Project at Fort Benning, 2005-07.


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Less than two months after HP bolstered HP-UX 11i version 2 with new security features, it has unleashed HP-UX 11i version 3.
The refresh boasts improved storage, performance and virtualization features, raising the stakes against Unix competitors IBM and Sun not to mention Linux.
Although the announcement appears to part of be a rapid succession of Unix updates, Nick van der Zweep, director of virtualization and software for HP's Business Critical Systems, argued that customer update fatigue is not an issue. Van Der Zweep noted that HP provides quarterly updates for HP-UX.
"I wouldn't call it fatigue since the customer base absolutely demands that we add more features and security and they pick and choose when they want to upgrade," Van Der Zweep said.
The version 3 release is also not necessarily a major revenue event for HP either: existing HP-UX subscribers get version 3 as part of their subscriptions without additional cost.
Van Der Zweep boasted that version 3 provides a 30 percent performance improvement over version 2. Part of that performance improvement comes via an improved I/O (stack.
The I/O stack improvements also empower HP-UX 11i version 3 with what Van Der Zweep calls "unlimited storage" capacity.
There is, in fact, a limit but the limit is 100 million zettabytes an amount that is barely comprehensible. One zettabyte is equal to 1 billion terabytes (define).
Sun's Solaris Unix operating system actually now also deals in zettabytes with its ZFS (Zettabyte file system) which became part of Solaris in 2005.
With HP-UX 11i version 3, HP is also set to have its Unix certified under the UNIX 2003 standard, an effort to help define a set of APIs and functionality across Unix to allow for application portability.
Both IBM, with its AIX 5L V5.3 Unix, and Sun Solaris 10 are already Unix 2003 certified.
Van Der Zweep noted, however, that most customer don't come to HP asking specifically for the Unix 2003 certifications.
"We have the functionality there in HP-UX and to a certain extent it's just a check-off item," Van Der Zweep said. "Customers don't demand certification they are just worried if their application runs well and that the availability stands up over time."
This article was originally published on internetnews.com.


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Our High School Cheerleader Costume is ideal for a Halloween party or any other fancy dress time of the year.
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Sorata Muon is Mouse, the latest in a long line of world famous thieves each operating under the guise of "Mouse." Due to the vast fortune his family has accumulated over generations, he has limitless resources available to pull off his exotic capers, which sometimes involve the theft of entire buildings, and even has three beautiful assistants who were born into his servitude. The group is based out of a large underground complex (the "Mouse-cave?") which is located beneath an unsuspecting High School where the four serve as instructors: Sorata is the school's absent-minded art professor adored by the girls he teaches, Mei is the tough, buxom blonde math teacher who loves Sorata above all else, Yayoi is the brilliant, equally buxom brunette who uses her genius to double as the school nurse and Hazuki is the fun-loving green haired girl (there's always one, isn't there?) and gym coach. Every girl has a unique personality all their own, and as the series progresses we learn more about each girl's background.
This show is classified as an ecchi series, which means that it shows a lot more than your typical "fan service" shows (like the disappointing Maburaho or Go Nagai's classic New Cutey Honey), but doesn't go as far as a "hentai" series would. The term ecchi means "naughty" and is actually derived from the Japanese pronunciation of "H," the first letter of the word hentai which means "perverted." Basically, it breaks down like this: fan service typically shows skimpy outfits or even quick glimpses of nudity while keeping it light, ecchi shows more nudity and for a longer period of time, as well as dealing with adult situations and sexuality, hentai is by far the most extreme actually showing genitalia, intercourse and even bizarre sexual situations that are only possible in the world of animation.
Mouse Vol. 1: Stealing Temptation takes full advantage of its ecchi status by delivering a fun, fast paced show chock full of scintillating visuals of Mei, Yayoi and Hazuki, as well as delivering several erotic situations featuring Mouse with one or more of them. By just going for it and showing as much as they do Mouse is elevated above the juvenile feel of most fan service shows, which tend to go out of their way for the briefest glimpse of cleavage or panties, and allows the viewer to sit back, relax and enjoy the show. While some of the acting and dialogue is ridiculous, Mouse still feels like an adult comedy for adults, with tons of action, comedy and sex. What more could you want?
The six episodes included on this disc are:
Episode 01: "My Name Is "Mouse" ": Beginning with the daring heist of an entire museum we're introduced to Sorata Muon, otherwise known as the world-famous thief, Mouse. We're also introduced to his three lovely, devoted assistants. The cops issue Mouse a challenge, steal the newly constructed Odaiba tower or lose his title as World's Greatest Thief.
Episode 02: "There Is Nothing Mouse Cannot Steal": Mouse and the girls travel to Mother Russia in order to recruit the help of their submarine fleet. Meanwhile, the cops have set their trap for Mouse and anxiously await any sign of his presence as the whole world watches on. Will Mouse be able to pull off the perfect heist and keep his crown as "King Thief?"
Episode 03: "She Will Not Accept Her Fate": Mouse makes a plan to steal the rare and valuable diamond known as the Muse's Tear right out from under the police. However, will it spoil everything when he is "forced" to go out on a date with one of his enamored students and why does this sudden attraction disturb the formerly unflappable Mei so much?
Episode 04: "Mouse Does Not Betray His Own": The cops have sent in a special task force to deal with the exceedingly troublesome Mouse and have forced the master thief to change his plans. We've learned Mei's true feelings for Sorata go beyond her forced servitude, but will she have to sacrifice her life to prove it?
Episode 05: "The Target Is Hazuki": To prevent anyone from learning the true purpose of Yamanoue High School, the memory manipulating machine "Turtle Recall" is created, but has yet to be tested. Hazuki volunteers for the task and promptly loses her mind in cyberspace. Can the World's Greatest Thief steal it back?
Episode 06: "Mouse In The Electric Kingdom": Hazuki's mind has been lost in the depths of the computer world and Mouse has gone in to save her. The trauma of having herself digitized causes her personality to split up. Mouse must face down these "different" Hazukis in order to bring her back into the real world.
One annoying thing about this show is that Mouse almost always tries to avoid his servants affections and acts like he doesn't enjoy their seemingly constant erotic attentions. I guess this might play in to some kind of nobility fantasy, or perhaps the idea of a meek guy besieged by wild wanton women just appeals more to Japanese sensibilities. Thankfully, as the series progresses he gradually spends more time with each of his assistants, even if he still complains about it. I guess I should mention that the episodes are only 15 minutes long (10 without the intro and outro), but that could be why I like the show. The episodes should really be closer to 30 minutes long, rather than these brief two-parters, but it does a lot to break up the action and keep the story moving at a rapid clip.
The DVD:
Picture: This DVD is presented in a 4:3 full screen presentation. As the series originally aired in 2003, the picture is crisp and clear with nice bright colors throughout, especially in the case of Mouse's servants and their various "cosplay" inspired outfits.
Audio: There is an English 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo dub track and a Japanese 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo original language track. There are two optional English subtitle options, one for just titles and another for the Japanese dialogue track. Lately, I have gotten into the habit of watching Anime shows with both the English dub (sacrilegious, I know) and the subtitles on. For some reason, I feel like I've been getting more out of shows this way and Mouse is no exception. Surprisingly, the English dub was quite passable and fairly accurate except in some instances when references to Japanese culture (such as "cosplay") were mentioned. The intro and outro songs are also quite addictive and will get stuck in your head for days after hearing them.
Extras: The only Extras, if you can even call them that, are trailers for four additional Anime Works releases (Jungle De Ikou!, Demon Fighter Kocho, Detatoko Princess and Idol Project).
Conclusion: I've read several comparisons online between Mouse and another famous, world-class thief, Lupin III. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of the Lupin III films or shows and therefore cannot say which is better, but having seen this first volume of Mouse, I can definitely say that I was entertained. If you're looking for a quick fix of fast-paced, adult-oriented adventure-comedy, than you could probably do a lot worse than Mouse Vol. 1: Stealing Temptation. Recommended.